


Supply and Demand, Part 2

by Spinofflady



Series: Race to the Edge [13]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 02:23:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9153358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spinofflady/pseuds/Spinofflady
Summary: Knowing what Viggo’s next target is, the Dragon Riders hatch a plan to stop him. Catia, however, is the only one who knows what will truly stop him, and cuts off his supply with her own knife.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **VOMIT WARNING**

Hiccup watched helplessly as Astrid writhed in pain, thrashing feverishly on her bed. Her hair clung to her sweaty forehead, and her white night dress was sheer in a few places from the moisture. He wanted so badly to gather her up in his arms to comfort her, but he knew the movement would only hurt her worse.

Catia had said it would only get worse. Hiccup wasn’t exactly how it could, but within the last hour Astrid’s pain had nearly doubled. What he would give to take the misery for her. What he would give to take her place—let her live. She had been through so much already, why couldn’t Viggo have just infected him?

He cringed as Astrid arched her back, crying out in pure agony. Tears were streaming down her sweaty cheeks, her glassy eyes fixing on him for a moment. His stomach flipped and his throat tightened.  Oh, how desperately he wanted her to have relief! Even if it were just for a moment, just enough time for her to catch her breath.

He slowly took her hand again, gently rubbing her knuckles. She immediately wrapped her fingers around his palm, squeezing so hard he was sure she would break his hand. He didn’t care though. That was nothing compared to the pain she was suffering though, and if it somehow eased her pain, he would let her break both his hands.

She had to be exhausted. She hadn’t gotten any sleep, and had been in absolute agony for most of the night. Hiccup was tired as well, but refused to leave her side until they found a cure. Which they would…they had to, even if it meant that Viggo would win.

He was brought back to the present by a horrible retching noise, and knew immediately that Astrid needed his attention. Viggo could wait.

Hiccup tried to grab the bucket beside the bed before Astrid had the chance to throw up all over herself, but was too late. He grabbed the fur that covered her and held it up under her chin, knowing the mess would simply be easier to clean that way.

She only brought up a clear phlegm, gagging over it so that it left her coughing and gasping for breath. She whimpered and repeated herself, but some of it managed to miss the fur and Hiccup, without hesitation, used his hand to keep it off her.

It was disgusting, of course, but he’d been covered in far worse liquids before. She was finally catching her breathe, and he rolled up the soiled fur, wiping his hand on it.

“Sorry,” she whispered, clearly embarrassed.

“Don’t be,” he replied gently, brushing the hair out of her eyes with his clean hand. “I’m not going through anything compared to you.”

She tried to offer him a smile in return, but was interrupted by a wave of pain that raced through her abdomen. She could help but scream, trying to stile it by gritting her teeth.

Hiccup set the fur to the side, covering her with a fresh one, and cleaned his hand. Sitting down beside his girlfriend again, and brushed the tears off her cheeks. It was so hard to watch her like this. He wished he had a magic potion that could take away her pain, but he didn’t even have an herb to use.

Oh, there were plenty of herbs; she just couldn’t keep it down. They had tried everything: water, ice, tea—nothing helped.

Hiccup twirled a lock of her hair around his finger, longing to kiss her and make her better. He wanted to kick himself. How could he have let Viggo know that Astrid was so important to him? Why couldn’t he have kept his feelings a secret until after the war, when it wouldn’t matter?  

If only there was something he could do now to change fate. Astrid didn’t deserve this, and it was only because Viggo knew it would hurt Hiccup. He sighed, Viggo was certainly right. Watching Astrid suffer was ripping his heart out.

The door slowly creaked open, and Catia stepped in. Dark circles bagged underneath her eyes; she had been up studying all night, scouring her books for the cure Ahraya had found.

“Any luck?” Hiccup asked softly, trying his hardest not to disturb Astrid. She seemed to have found a comfortable spot.

Catia shook her head. “Nothing. I guess Ahraya didn’t dare write anything down.” She sighed, walking over to check Astrid. “How is she?”

“She threw up a few more times,” Hiccup replied, continuing to massage her scalp, at last having found something that soothed her.

Catia felt her forehead, Astrid groaning as she did so. Catia shook her head at how incredibly hot her skin was to the touch.

“You were on to something, though,” Catia went on, adjusting the fur that covered Astrid’s feverish body. “There was a reason that there are no single cases of Freya’s Fever. In order to get the Fever, you must have the Scourge first. I think that’s because Perondis is used to cure the Scourge.”

“And one of the side effects is fevers,” Hiccup finished, catching on quickly. “So Perondis causes Freya’s Fever?”

“No,” Catia shook her head. “People who haven’t had the Scourge are treated with Perondis all the time, and they don’t get sick. There is something more, something we’re missing.”

“What kind of something?” Heather said from the doorway.

“Stop sneaking up on us like that!” Hiccup exclaimed, startled by her sudden appearance.

“Sorry,” Heather said with a smile, “I thought you saw me. So what are you missing?”

“I can’t figure out what specifically causes Freya’s Fever,” Catia sighed, sitting down in a chair. “I know that Viggo had something to do with it; the Fever doesn’t just show up. I just don’t know how. Astrid hasn’t been anywhere near Viggo, and Viggo hasn’t been anywhere near her!”

“Viggo?” Heather asked, curious. “You know, Astrid might actually have been somewhere near Viggo.”

“What do you mean?” Hiccup asked, helping Astrid roll onto her side. She groaned a little, but finally settled back down.

“Well, earlier today, or maybe yesterday by this point, Astrid and I were down on the beach. There was an old wooden crate in one of the caves; I told you about it. But there was a Maces and Talons piece next to it. I didn’t pay much attention to it, but I think it was a shield maiden.” Heather stopped short, realizing what she just said. “A shield maiden! Viggo left that crate for Astrid!”

“But why would he leave her a crate full of rotten grass?” Hiccup wondered aloud.

“It was some kind of herb; it looked like thick grass. I don’t think he meant for it to be rotten, though.”

“No,” Catia interjected. “Viggo doesn’t do anything by mistake. He wasn’t it to be rotten. I’m almost positive you’re describing Perondis.”

“So is spoiled Perondis the cause?”

Catia thought for a moment. “There are some herbs that are poisonous if they go rancid. Maybe Perondis is one of them, but the…” she trailed off. Perondis…the Scourge… There was a link! The Scourge of Odin was caused by Buffalord saliva, and cured by the saliva and Perondis. Freya’s Fever was seemingly caused but rancid Perondis. Perhaps the Fever could be countered with saliva. Astrid already had immunity to it, so she couldn’t get any sicker.

Catia’s train of thought was cut short as Astrid’s brief moment of comfort ended, and she seemed in worse pain than she was before. Far worse. Tears were streaming down her face as she screamed in agony, clinging to Hiccup as he tried to console her.

“Roll her onto her side,” Catia instructed, “it helps some.”

Hiccup did so, but the movement only caused Astrid more pain. She moaned and leaned over the edge of the bed, her chest heaving as she hacked up more fluid. This time it was tinted with blood. Hiccup tried to keep her sweaty hair away from her face, still attempting to keep the vomit off the floor.

“We need to do something!” Heather shouted at Catia. “She’ll die from the pain before we find a cure!”

“Go to my hut,” Catia told her. “There’s a small blue bottle on the shelf. Get it, and be careful not to shake it up too much.”

Heather nodded and ran outside, Dagur and Fishlegs pushing past her. “What is going on?!” Dagur yelled above the commotion.

“The sickness works in waves,” Catia tried to explain. “Each one is worse than the other. They ease off for a minute or two, and then came back in full force.”

“Can’t we give her something for the pain?” Fishlegs asked, desperate to find a solution.

“She can’t keep it down!”

“So force it down!” Dagur spit back.

“You don’t do that Dagur, you have to be careful!”

“How careful can you be? It doesn’t matter how careful you are, but amputations still hurt!”

“This has nothing to do with amputations!”

“It sure sounds like it does!”

The arguing continued, but Hiccup knew better than to get involved. He knew very well that Dagur and Fishlegs didn’t know anything about amputations, and there was nothing that could ever prepare them for that pain. But now was not the time to say so. Now was not the time for anything but Astrid.

He knew how much pain she was in, and would have done anything to take it away. Kneeling on the floor beside her bed, doing his best to avoid the wet spot, Hiccup wiped the beads of sweat and tears off her face. “Astrid, look at me,” he whispered, knowing how important it was to have her focus.

She bit her lip and gaze up at him, trying her hardest to keep back a groan.

“I know it hurts,” he went on. “But just listen to me. You can beat this, okay? Don’t give out on us now.” He continued to run his finger through her hair, calming her with the repetitive motion. It was short-lived, however, and she rolled on her back again, her eyes closed. An unbidden moan escaped her lips.

Hiccup’s mind raced. When he had first lost his leg, he had spent weeks on end battling the fever and excruciating pain that accompanied the procedure. Most of it he spent unconscious, but for the times he was awake to suffer through it, he vaguely remembered something his father had done to help him get through it. It was a simple game, not even a game, really. All Stoick had done was lightly tap Hiccup’s arm, and the boy had counted the taps. It wasn’t much, just enough to direct his mind away from the searing pain.

He started to tap Astrid’s arm. “Can you feel that?” He asked.

She nodded, pursing her lips as tears slipped down her cheeks.

“Count how many times I tap your arm. Only think about that, nothing else.” She nodded again, and for a time, the game worked. Hiccup knew how difficult it was to think about anything other than the pain, and as she started to writhe again, he stopped and pulled her closer pressing his forehead to hers. He could feel her hot tears streaming down her face, he could feel her shuddering breaths as she tried to ignore the pain, he could feel the heat radiating from her body, and it was breaking his heart.

Heather finally returned and breathlessly passed Catia the bottle. Catia in turn, briskly walked over to the bed and all but pushed Hiccup out of the way. She propped Astrid’s head up and somewhat roughly poured the liquid into her mouth.

For a moment, Astrid continued to sob in agony, but she gradually quieted and lay perfectly still, though she brought up the liquid a few minutes later.

“Is she in pain anymore?” Fishlegs asked softly.

Catia nodded. “This just makes her too sleepy to respond. It will make it harder for us to care for her, and speeds up the Fever’s progress, but at least she won’t feel all the pain.”

“Please tell me you have a plan,” Hiccup somewhat demanded, standing.

“I do,” Catia started haltingly. “But I don’t know if it will work, and I can’t tell you what it is.”

“Why?”

“Because if it does work, then we’ve found the cure, and I don’t want anyone else to know. I only want Viggo to be able to get the information from me.”

“Can we at least help?” Heather pleaded, willing to do anything to help her friend.

“That,” Catia said with a smile, “is something you might just be able to do.”


	2. Chapter 2

Heather, Fishlegs, Dagur, Snotlout and the twins flew as fast as they could toward the Buffalord Island. All Catia had told them was that they need to get the saliva, keep it cold so that it wouldn’t dry up, and bring home as much as they could. How she would use it, they didn’t have any idea, but she was onto something, that they were sure of.

What confused Heather was that even if Catia could find a cure, she would have no way of administering to Astrid. She couldn’t keep anything down, and other than by mouth there wasn’t really any other way of giving someone a cure. But Catia must know of some other way, or she wouldn’t have sent them out. She must have an alternative.

The truth was that Catia truly had no idea how she was going to give Astrid a cure, once she found one. She knew that Buffalord saliva must be included, because that was something Ahraya tried. It had worked, but not enough to act as an antidote.

Catia sat at her desk, searching every book she had for solutions. If only she knew what the actual cause of Freya’s Fever was! There must be something she was missing, some piece of the puzzle that she hadn’t found yet, but she was starting to wonder if she would find it in time.

Perhaps she was thinking about the entire this wrong. Perhaps she needed to think less about the cause and more about the cure.  She didn’t have time to think about both. But without knowing the cause, she didn’t have much to work with.

With the Scourge of Odin, the cause was simple. Either you were infected by someone who was sick, or you ingested Buffalord saliva. The cure was simple, too. If infected by someone else, you used the saliva and Perondis, because the victim already had immunity to the disease. If they were infected with the saliva itself, you used Perondis and the blood of someone who had gotten it the opposite way, again because of the immunity.

But with Freya’s Fever, there was no such connection. Then it stuck her. Anyone who had Freya’s Fever had the Scourge of Odin first! It was the Perondis and saliva! The Perondis worked to raise the body’s temperature, which in turn caused the Scourge to be cured. The Scourge was an infection of the blood, which Perondis could help to cure. But because the Perondis took so long to wear off, if the victim came in contact with rancid Perondis, which was doubly strong, the Fever took over.

So if she were to somehow inject Buffalord saliva into Astrid’s bloodstream, the immunity she had might just counter the Fever.

Ahraya had given her patients the saliva by mouth, but because the only threw it back up, they died of dehydration.

Realization dawned on Catia suddenly. “Ahraya had the cure figured out,” she whispered to herself. “But she administered it wrong.”

She picked up a small glass container off her desk, a syringe to be specific. It was supposed to be used by mouth, as was everything else she had. But an idea slowly formed in her mind, and the more she thought about it, the more she was sure it could work.

She picked up a sewing needle, the largest she could find, and set off to find Hiccup. Perhaps he could drill a hole straight down the middle of the needle, and if he could, that might be the answer to her problems.

. . .

“You want me to drill a hole down the center of a sewing needle?” Hiccup asked, obviously quite shocked. “How do you expect me to do that?”

“I don’t know,” Catia replied simply. “But I need you to do it. I can’t tell you why, just trust me.”

Hiccup shook his head, taking the needle and heading for the forge. He probably thought she was crazy, but Catia didn’t care. For the first time, someone might be able to survive Freya’s Fever, and she needed that needle.

The other’s had arrived back and Heather handed her a jug of Buffalord saliva, packed in a box of snow. “I don’t think it dried up,” she said. “I made sure it stayed cold.”

Catia smiled her thanks and walked back up to her hut. She began to slowly mix in some water with the saliva, since Astrid would be dehydrated after throwing up so many times. She also added some salt and sugar to the mixture, which she remembered Ahraya saying was a good was to help replace nutrients.

Hiccup finally brought her the needle, which was slightly bent out of shape, but still usable. “I didn’t think it was possible,” he said, shaking his head. “But there you go.”

She thanked him, and fastened the needle to the end of the syringe, forcing whatever liquid was inside to flow through the tiny tube. Satisfied with her work, she packed it up into a box and carried it down to Astrid’s hut.

Catia found that the hardest part was making Hiccup leave while she worked, but she didn’t want anyone else to know the information that Viggo was willing to kill for. She filled her updated syringe with the saliva mixture and felt around on Astrid’s arm for the large vein. As carefully as she possibly could, she slowly pierced the skin with the needle, and when she was positive it was where she wanted it, she slowly injected the liquid into Astrid’s arm.

It was a tedious process, and Catia longed to have Ahraya’s watchful eye over her shoulder, making sure that she was proceeding correctly.  But Ahraya had never done this, and Catia knew she was relying on her skill alone. She repeated the process in Astrid’s other arm, and packed up her supplies. Now all she could do was wait.

. . .

Hiccup sat in a chair next to Astrid’s bed, his head dropping in exhaustion. She hadn’t moved in hours and the only sign that she was alive was the slow rise and fall of her chest. He quietly took her clammy hand in his. Catia had administered another dosage of the supposed cure (he didn’t know how), but it still had yet to take effect. Astrid hadn’t gotten any worse, which everyone felt had to be a good thing.

Hiccup had grown far too used to the scenario—waiting to see if Astrid would survive, holding her hand as it seemed things had taken a turn for the worse. But she always seemed to pull through, and that was the only hope he had.  

He full well knew, of course, that Astrid could die at any second, but he refused to think about that. She was alive for now, and that was all that mattered. He leaned back, a wave of exhaustion hitting him in full force. What harm could it do to just dose off for a moment?

An entire hour passed before he woke up with a jolt, realizing he’d slept for much longer than he’d intended.

“You’re so cute when you sleep.”

He looked up, a smile breaking out on his face. “Astrid!” he exclaimed, overjoyed to find her awake. He leaned forward and gently wrapped his arms around her, even more thrilled to find that her fever was nearly gone.

“No crying this time?” she asked, smiling a little.

“I’m getting too used to this,” he replied, placing a kiss on her forehead. “I knew you would be okay. You are okay, right?”

“I guess so,” Astrid shrugged. “Tired, and a little sore, but the pain is gone for now.”

Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief. “I need to get Catia. She’ll know what we should do next.” He stood and jogged outside, calling for Catia.

“What’s wrong?” she asked urgently, running up.

“Nothing,” Hiccup answered. “Astrid is awake, and says the pain is gone.”

“Thank goodness,” Catia smiled, though it soon faded. “But you know what this means. Viggo just won.”

“He hasn’t won yet.”

. . .

It wasn’t but a few days later that Astrid was back to normal; you couldn’t even tell she had been sick. Catia had a hard time believing it was really true, as she had watched Freya’s Fever claim so many lives in the past.

But everyone’s attention turned to the new and ever present danger: Viggo would strike, and soon. He would eventually learn that Astrid had survived and would come to find out how.

Hiccup knew this however, and planned on striking Viggo before Viggo could strike them. So he summoned help from the Defenders of the Wing, and along with them and Dagur’s army, the set off to face him.

And Viggo was ready.

As they approached his base, they were met with a cloud of arrows, and Snotlout was taken down. He managed to land on one of the ships and Hookfang was immediately given an antidote for the effect. The catapults were next, sending huge boulders hurling through the air.  

The Dragon Rider’s dodged them effortlessly and landed in front of Viggo. He was alone, in an open field and Hiccup could only assume there was some catch to the ease of their attack. 

“Ah, Hiccup,” Viggo started eloquently. “We meet again at last. I’ve missed participating in this game for control. You are a fantastic opponent.”

“I didn’t come here to let you make a speech,” Hiccup replied angrily. “I came here to end this war. I came here to end your malicious industry.”

“Malicious industry?” Viggo repeated, laughing slightly. “I am going to distribute lifesaving treatment for the most dire of illnesses. May ask how you see that as malicious?”

“Because you’re going to infect people with the sicknesses first,” Fishlegs shouted.

“Nonsense. I have no intention of harming anyone; however, I would be most delighted to know what was done for our dear Astrid. I’ve heard Freya’s Fever is quite deadly.”

“She’s not ‘our’ anything,” Hiccup snarled possessively, placing a hand on the hilt of his Inferno, as if in a challenge. “And none of us know what was done for her.”

“Surely one of you must have done something,” Viggo went on, eyeing Catia. “And I wished to be informed of it.”

“Keep wishing,” Hiccup shrugged.

“Very well, I did not want to play the game this way, Hiccup, but apparently you do.” Guards suddenly surrounded them, forcing them to the ground and pulling away their weapons. Viggo turned to Catia, smiling viciously.

“You must be Ahraya’s little apprentice. I’m sure you can tell me what was done, that is, if you’ve learned how to use the language properly. It was so amusing to watch you stumble over such simple words.”

Catia glared at him, obviously preparing a comeback that would leave even Viggo speechless. “I have, as you seem to be oblivious to, subsequently mastered this effortless dialect, to which you would be astute to consider. And if by some minuscule possibility you suppose that I would allocate such imperative information concerning the antidote to this particular infirmity, you would be vastly erroneous!”

It did leave Viggo speechless, stunned in fact. He never expected such an answer from Hiccup, much less the girl who could hardly speak the language the last time he had seen her. “You will tell me what I desire to know,” Viggo commanded, trying to regain his composure.  “Or your friends will die.”

“Oh, someone will die,” Catia replied shortly, pulling out her knife. “But not them.”

“You can’t threaten me. There isn’t a loss on this earth I’m not willing to incur.”

“Are you sure?” Catia asked, eyeing him strangely.

“Of course.”

Catia immediately drew the knife up to her own chest, ready to take her own life. “Nothing?”

Viggo hesitated.

“That’s right. I am not expendable to you am I?” Catia glared at him, her eyes showing just how serious she was. “Ahraya killed herself so that you could use what she discovered to hurt people.  I am ready to follow in her footsteps. Let my friends go, _now,_ or I swear you will regret it.”

Eyes narrowed, Viggo motioned for his men to release the Dragon Riders.

“Now give them the Dragon Eye.”

“That belongs to me!”

“Choose wisely, Viggo. I’m not afraid to die.”

Viggo slowly backed away, retrieving the item and handing it to Hiccup. “I’ve done what you asked. Now tell me the cure.”

Catia drew in a slow breath, taking a moment to look at each of her friends, and finally glanced back to Viggo. “No,” She answered loud and clear. “This. Ends. Now!” She drove the dagger into her chest, forever severing Viggo’s supply.

“No!” Hiccup shouted, as if trying to stop her. But he was too late. Catia slowly removed the knife from her chest, staring blankly at the blood that poured from the wound. She offered on last smile to her friends, and allowed herself to stumble over the cliff behind her.

Astrid broke away from Hiccup’s grasped and ran to the edge of the cliff, tears blinding her. She brushed them away and desperately searched for Catia’s body, but the ocean waves lapping against the rocks could have buried her in an instant.

Dagur and Mala, who were waiting for a signal on the ships, saw her body fall and immediately assumed there was fighting. The cliffs were suddenly swarmed with warriors, swords and axes clashing, and a terrific battle ensued. But none of the Dragon Riders seemed to notice. Their friend was gone.

. . .

“We have no words, no actions, no tears that could honor you in such a way as you deserve. Your courage, sacrifice, and friendship will never be forgotten. You have left us with a legacy that generations will know, and we can only be proud to say we that knew you. May you take your rightful place in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave shall live forever.”

Hiccup swallowed, knowing there was nothing he could say that would ever do Catia Anastos justice. He drew back his bowstring and released the flaming arrow. His friends did the same, and the arrows flew toward an empty ship. They had searched for hours, but failed to find Catia’s body.

Astrid and Heather set their bows down and briskly walked away, brushing tears out of their eyes. Everyone was mourning the loss of Catia; even Dagur was tearful.

Hiccup eventually stood alone on the beach, staring out at the burning ship. It dawned on him that this was the third funeral ship they’d burned, the first for the sailors, then for Astrid, and now Catia. It didn’t seemed right to have so many causalities, but this was war.

But thanks to Catia, the war was over. The Defenders of the Wing had taken Viggo prisoner, and he would be lucky if he ever saw the light of day again.

“You’re pretty good at funerals, you know that?”

Hiccup jumped, whirling around. He was shocked to find Catia beside him, and terrified he took a step back.

“Relax,” she laughed. “If I can trick you into making you think I can’t hear, how hard could it be to fake my own death?”

“But…the knife...” Hiccup stuttered, unsure of what to say.

“It’s not a real knife,” she shrugged. “I got it from a magician. He told me it would come in handy someday, and it did. All it took was a little packet of yak blood to make everything look realistic.”

“So you’re not dead?”

Catia laughed again. “Of course not. I just wanted everyone to think that. If Viggo ever found out that I’m still alive, well, let’s just say we’d have another war on our hands.”

“Come on!” Hiccup said excitedly. “The others will be so surprised-”

“No,” Catia cut him off. “I don’t want anyone else to know. I wasn’t even going to tell you, but I knew you would just blame yourself and beat yourself up over it for the rest of your life.”

Hiccup smiled, for the short time they’d known each other, she had him figured out pretty well.

“I also wanted to thank you,” she went on. “I used to think that no one on earth deserved to be trusted, and I thought I would spend the rest of my life in hiding. But when I met the Dragon Riders, that changed. So thank you.”

“We should be thanking you,” Hiccup answered graciously. “You saved our lives on many occasions.”

“That’s what a good healer does,” Catia smiled.

“If you want everyone to think you’re dead, then where will you go?”

“North,” she replied slowly. “They don’t have many healers up there.”

“They’ll be lucky to have you,” Hiccup smiled back.

Catia threw her arms around him. “Goodbye, Hiccup.”

He hugged her back. “Goodbye, Tia.”

She drew back, smiling, and whistled to Shifty. “Come on, girl,” she said happily. “We better head out.” she turned back to Hiccup. “Give everyone a hug for me.”

“Even Snotlout?”

“Yes. Even Snotlout.”

Her smile faded into sorrow as she realized she really had to leave. “I hope we meet again, Hiccup Haddock.”

“Me too.”

They shared one last smile, and Catia urged Shifty into the clouds, leaving Hiccup alone for some time. Astrid finally came looking for him.

“Hiccup? What are you still doing here? We need to leave.” She walked up beside him.

“I was just thinking,” he replied, wishing with all his heart he could tell her that Catia was still alive. But he didn’t dare start up a war that had just ended.

“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Astrid murmured, hanging her head.

Hiccup nodded, pulling her into a hug, just as he’d promised Catia he’d do. The two lingered there for some time, simply enjoying the warm embrace of the other’s arms.

“Heather and Dagur are going back to the Berserker Island soon,” Astrid said finally.

“Mm,” Hiccup mumbled, rubbing her back. “I guess we should go home, too.”

“Home,” Astrid breathed. “Boy, does that sound good.”

“It sure does.” He pulled back and tilted her chin up, and immediately brought his lips to hers. She eagerly kissed back, placing her hands around his neck. As each savored the moment, the true meaning of ‘home’ started to sink in.

After everything they had been through, the battles, injuries, arguments and sicknesses, to be able to return to Berk and live in peace sounded like a miracle.

If they could go home, it meant the war was over, the danger was gone, and suddenly there was time for just the two of them. Time to laugh and love each other without worrying that someone would use it against them. Time to sit on the cliffs and watch the sunset. Time to go on as many walks as they wanted. Time for their ever deepening affection for each other to grow.

Yes, home sounded utterly wonderful.

 

**_The End_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh! I can't believe this series is over! It's so crazy! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! 
> 
> So, now is your chance to tell me everything, you favorite part, parts that had you laughing or crying hysterically, anything that comes to mind. I love to hear from my readers. 
> 
> Thank you for reading, thank you for all your support and encouragement! I have other ideas for more Race to the Edge themed work, so it might be coming soon. I am currently working on a HTTYD modern AU called "Perfectly Mean." The first chapter is already posted, so go read it!
> 
> Thank you again for everything!
> 
> ~Spinofflady


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